Catching up with Tul Waitoonkiat, SVHS ‘94

SVHS class of 1994, do you remember Tul Waitoonkiat?|

Tul Waitoonkiat, an American Field Service exchange student from Thailand, lived with the Dicker family during his senior year at Sonoma Valley High School, from the fall of 1994 to the summer to 1994.

After he graduated from SVHS, Tul went on to earn a degree in music business, and he is now the lead singer and songwriter of Apartment Khunpa, an award-winning indie rock group in Thailand.

He was in New York this month working on a new album, and he stopped by Sonoma for a quick visit to Laverne and Kelly Dicker and for his first visit back to SVHS since graduating.

“My husband and I call him our ‘exchange son,’” said Laverne. Their family had never hosted a student before but they saw an article in the Index-Tribune about a student wanting to attend SVHS and, on a whim, they stepped forward.

The Dickers’ two daughters were excited to get an older brother. Melia was at Altimira and Melia was at El Verano when Tul arrived. They became like sisters to him, said Tul, and he even attended Jillian’s wedding a few years ago in New Orleans.

“He was a great kid, just 17 that year,” said Laverne. “But he was very easy going and his English was excellent.”

There were several other exchange students at SVHS that year, including kids from from Canada and Hong Kong. Tul said that they were a tight-knit group and they keep in touch to this day, via Facebook.

He said that the experience of attending Sonoma Valley High and living in California for the year definitely changed him.

“Upon returning home I was definitely a little braver,” he said as he wandered around his old SVHS stomping grounds in mid-March. “I got to meet students from all over and learn about other cultures. I also wrote my first song here. It was something about journeys… Sonoma is definitely where I became interested in music. American music really inspired me a lot.”

Yul played doubles on the Dragon tennis team and, while he doesn’t remember too much about his classes, he was also introduced that year to the book that is still his favorite.

“I loved reading ‘Brave New World’ by Aldus Huxley,” he said. “Science fiction opened up my imagination a lot. It’s still one of my favorite books to this day. So much of it is now like what is going on in the world.”

In addition to being a sought-after songwriter, Tul is a published poet. When he is not on tour, he is a commercial jingle-writer.

“I’ve written lots of songs for candy (brands), snack and soda,” he said with a laugh.

Tul’s band has released five albums and their music is available on Apple Music and Spotify. Some of the songs are in Thai, a few are in English. The band, which has been together for 16 years, plays festivals all over Thailand, some similar to Coachella, with audiences ranging from a few hundred to several thousand.

“To me, he’s just one of my kids, so it’s funny to me that in his home country, he’s a rock star,” said Laverne.

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